Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century
Duck Dodgers and the Return of the 24½th Century is a 1980 Merrie Melodies short directed by Chuck Jones. Plot Daffy Duck reprises his famous role of Duck Dodgers in another spoof of Saturday afternoon space serials. Assigned to locate the rack-and-pinion molecule needed for yo-yo polish, Dodgers and his assistant, an eager young space cadet (Porky Pig), crash their spaceship into a giant egg-shell, where they find Marvin the Martian, who is, as usual, scheming to destroy Earth, in an attempt to solve the "fuel problem". Marvin asks Dodgers to visit the boudoir of Gossamer, a giant, hairy monster in sneakers, and the frightened Dodgers flees. Porky uses electronic clippers to literally haircut Gossamer into nothingness. Dodgers, furious of his assistant's all too literal interpretations of his commands, repeatedly fires his ray gun at Porky's rear. During the chase, when Porky asks what the people on Earth will do without the rack-and-pinion molecule, Dodgers simply says "Let 'em eat cake!" Availability * VHS - Looney Tunes Presents: Marvin the Martian & K-9: 50 Years on Earth! ''(1997 dubbed version) * VHS - ''Looney Tunes Presents: Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes ''(reissue version) (1997 dubbed version) * Blu-ray - ''Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1, Disc 3 * DVD - The Essential Daffy Duck, Disc 2 (part of Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special) * Streaming - Boomerang App Notes * It is the sequel of "Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century". It was the first Daffy and Porky cartoon since 1965. * This cartoon first aired on November 20, 1980, as part of an animated TV special called Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special with scenes that would later be cut when this cartoon was reformatted as a short. * This is the first cartoon where Gossamer is named. Prior to that in his first two appearances, he was not named (as in "Hair-Raising Hare") or named Rudolf (as in "Water Water Every Hare"). * This cartoon reuses music cues from The Bugs Bunny Road-Runner Movie. * This cartoon reveals that Gossamer consists entirely of hair, hence once his fur is shaved he becomes invisible. This is even referenced in one of Cartoon Network's ''The Bugs & Daffy Show'' bumpers during the Powerhouse era when Bugs Bunny gives Gossamer a haircut. * K-9 was in the original storyboard by Michael Maltese, but did not appear in the finished cartoon. * This short was to be shown before Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, though its not known if it was or not.http://cartoonresearch.com/index.php/cartoons-considered-for-an-academy-award-1980/ * This short was considered for an Academy Award in 1980, but was not nominated. * MPAA Number: 26033 Reformatted Version The following scenes were cut when this cartoon was reformatted as an individual animated short: * Dodgers telling Marvin he's under arrest. * Dodgers referring to several locations in New York City that he’ll miss after Marvin tells him of his plan to blow up the Earth. * Porky using a straitjacket gun to capture Marvin the Martian. * The real ending where Marvin (still wrapped in the straitjacket) aims his missile at Earth and fires it, then tells the viewers that the missile will take three days to reach Earth, giving everyone time to get their affairs in order before everyone gets annihilated (which explains the "That's All Folks!" ending card where Marvin the Martin says, "Don't worry, folks. After all, it's only a cartoon"). * The Nickelodeon version of this cartoon cuts out the "That's All Folks!" ending card where Marvin the Martin says, "Don't worry, folks. After all, it's only a cartoon," along with ABC's edits made to it when it was reformatted as a cartoon short. The edited version of this cartoon has been seen on ABC, Cartoon Network, Boomerang and even in such video releases as "Marvin the Martian and K-9: 50 Years on Earth" VHS tape, Marvin the Martian: Space Tunes ''(reissue) VHS tape, the ''Bugs and Friends Japanese laserdisc set (as well as its European VHS tape), the DVD release of Daffy Duck's Quackbusters ''and on [[Looney Tunes Platinum Collection: Volume 1|''Looney Tunes Platinum Collection Volume 1]] DVD/Blu-Ray set. The only way to see the full, uncut version is to watch the Daffy Duck's Thanks-For-Giving TV special. Additional Credits *'Graphics:' Don Foster *'Associate Producer & Production Manager:' Mary Roscoe Gallery External Links * “The Return of Duck Dodgers” Storyboard by Michael Maltese – Part 1 on cartoonresearch.com * “The Return of Duck Dodgers” Storyboard by Michael Maltese – Part 2 on cartoonresearch.com References Category:Duck Dodgers Category:Daffy Duck Cartoons Category:Porky Pig Cartoons Category:Shorts Category:Gossamer Cartoons Category:1980 Category:Marvin the Martian Cartoons Category:Cartoons directed by Chuck Jones Category:Daffy Duck's Thanks-for-Giving Special Cartoons Category:Cartoons written by Michael Maltese Category:Cartoons written by Chuck Jones